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hippopotamus

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hip⋅po⋅pot⋅a⋅mus

  [hip-uh-pot-uh-muhs]
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–noun, plural -mus⋅es, -mi  [-mahy] .
a large herbivorous mammal, Hippopotamus amphibius, having a thick hairless body, short legs, and a large head and muzzle, found in and near the rivers, lakes, etc., of Africa, and able to remain under water for a considerable time.
Origin:
1555–65; < L < Gk hippopótamos, earlier híppos potámios lit., riverine horse (term used by Herodotus in his account of the Egyptian hippopotamus); cf. ME ypotame, ypotamos, ypotanus < OF ypotame < ML ypotamus

Related forms:
hip⋅po⋅po⋅tam⋅ic  [hip-uh-puh-tam-ik] , hip⋅po⋅po⋅ta⋅mi⋅an  [hip-uh-puh-tey-mee-uhn] , adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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hip·po·pot·a·mus   (hĭp'ə-pŏt'ə-məs)   
n.   pl. hip·po·pot·a·mus·es or hip·po·pot·a·mi (-mī')

  1. A large, chiefly aquatic African herbivorous mammal (Hippopotamus amphibius) having thick, dark, almost hairless skin, short legs with four toes, and a broad, wide-mouthed muzzle. Also called river horse.

  2. The pygmy hippopotamus.


[Latin, from Greek hippopotamos : hippos, horse; see ekwo- in Indo-European roots + potamos, river; see pet- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

hippopotamus 
1563, from L.L. hippopotamus, from Gk. hippopotamus "riverhorse" (earlier ho hippos ho potamios "the horse of the river"), from hippos "horse" + potamos "river, rushing water" (see petition). Replaced M.E. ypotame (c.1300), which is from the same source but via O.Fr.
"Ypotamos comen flyngynge. ... Grete bestes and griselich" ["Kyng Alisaunder," c.1300]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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